I was at a family gathering yesterday where a family member was raving about Dishoom’s breakfasts. Dishoom serves up great Indian delicacies and lassi milkshakes. I’ve been for lunch a year ago, but I kept meaning to try their other menus. Here’s their breakfast menu.
Hence, I’ve set up a meetup with Manc Mates for food, 10am, Sunday morning. Come join.
I predictably have no plans for Sunday night, when we have a Bank Holiday on the Monday. I’m all ears...
Love a good house music stomp. Thankfully promoters Up! Supplied an afternoon on the terrace of Six Trees in Trafford yesterday afternoon. Great music from Grace Sands and others including my friend Paul Smith.
I set up a meetup with Manchester Nightlife and got a group together - some regulars, some new people - we met in Impossible then got a taxi down there. Great music and atmos. Weather held up too, thankfully, as the sun went down.
Last Saturday I described this insane diet basted on Christian Bale’s efforts to prepare for his role in The Machinist.
The problem with a diet like this is that we all have food in our cupboards, fridges and freezers, and there’s no point it going off. So you might as well eat it. And that’s what I’ve been doing: with one meal per day, munching through the eggs, bread and other perishables. I also had made a huge pan of vegetable soup. I had some ingredients for a recipe, so I bought the remaining goods and cooked that too. I’ve actually got loads of non-tuna-and-pineapple stuff still to go. Furthermore, my mum – who doesn’t yet know I’m doing this project – invited me round for a curry. This absolutely stuffed me. When you're only eating one meal a day, it takes a long time to use up.
Soon, though, it will be just a can of tuna and an apple as a daily meal - as confirmed by the director below...
I watched The Machinist, and understood it a lot better this time. I’ve also watched the commentary track, in which director Brad Anderson clears up a few of the more confusing plot points. I totally forgot Michael Ironside and Jennifer Jason Leigh were in this.
I started this at 86.2, went down to 83.2 and am currently back up at 85.9. Teething problems. I’m steadily skipping it off. Watch what happens this next week.
Afternoon sessions are rising in popularity rapidly, and with good reason: no late night taxis, no disrupted sleep, more daylight and people are more likely to be available. That’s probably why a few DJs – including a friend of mine – have put together Up, an afternoon of house music in Six Trees out in Trafford. There’s a meetup with Manchester Nightlife that you should join. At the time of writing we’re planning where to meet – probably Impossible in the city centre first.
Discussed Magic Eye pictures with Aisha Katya. I’d swear that is a chicken. Bill Duke – Mac in Predator - liked my photo of us. Saw the solar eclipse on Wednesday, from Hartshead Pike. If you missed it, there’s another in 12 months.
Went out for a few birthday drinks in Freemount Northern Quarter last night. Behind Closed Doors turned me away because I was in shorts. You’d think a bar with S&M befitted mannequins wouldn’t have that strict a dress code in 2026, but here we are. Moved to Voyuer, a new edgy bar with risque-sounding cocktails (mine was called ‘Delusions of Grandeur,’ so make of that what you will), where a trans waiter served us Baby Godfather shots, a caramel liqueur. Turned out BCD and Voyuer are part of the same company. We finished the night off in Guilty By Association. I managed to get the bus back. Good night in all.
In 2004 Actor Christian Bale took up the titular role of The Machinist, a factory worker with insomnia whose interactions – possibly hallucinations – with other people drive him to the brink of insanity. I saw it in probably 2006. I enjoyed it but didn’t understand it. I made a plan to watch it again, but then life got in the way.
20 years later, I’ve managed to get my hands on the DVD and bargain basement price, and it includes some extras. At the time I watched it I was probably in the best physical shape of my life, doing Muay Thai and weights, and eating my mum’s excellent cooking. There was definitely no need to lose any weight. In 2010, however, I moved out, and under the lacklustre care of social services, I spiralled. I had no idea how to cook, shop for food or budget. The abs went within weeks, and never came back. At the time I moved out I was 68kg. Over the years, I spiralled up to 90kg. I managed to diet down to 72 a couple of times, but I’m currently 86.2.
So. I need to lose exactly 14 kilos. 72.2kg is the weight I know I need to be to fit into my 30” suit trousers. The fastest way I can imagine doing this is this what I understand Christian Bale did to achieve that gaunt physique.
Pretty simple really: a can of tuna and an apple every day. This might be a terrible idea, but the reality is a working kitchen usually is already stocked with a load of food. If you try these diets, you risk letting the food go off, even if it’s in the freezer. These projects can take longer than you might expect. So, for the moment, I’ll alternate between eating a full meal a day, and eating a can of tuna and an apple a day. I’ll do this until the rest of the food runs out. But essentially, cans of tuna and bags of apples will be all I’ll be buying until I hit the target weight. In the meantime, I’ll watch the whole of the DVD, plus other media, and use a skipping rope until the weight comes off. I’ll try to keep up with gym classes, but I expect I’m going to have to reduce the weights a bit. Fighting the cravings and sticking to the plan is the tie-in to psychology. The mental task of committing to the diet is probably harder than the physical effort of moving when incredibly hungry.
I’m getting drunk tonight, but after that… it begins.
I’ve been writing these annual targets since I turned 29. I remember writing some kind of bucket list as a uni student, however post uni life included abject poverty for many years, which kyboshed my plans. These days the plans are more or less the same every year. I’d like to travel more, but… with whom? Who has the finances? This time, it’s...
1) Reading Month
I have a humongous To Be Read pile. Hammering through a few short books should make a dent on it. As many as possible in a month.
2) Psychology Month
I love psychology. The specific scientific field has answered a few questions that I’ve had my whole life. I’ve got a load of psychology books that I’ve tried to tap through, plus it’d be great to do something with this Psychology Social Group I set up. I’d just like to meet more people who have an interest in that field, and do something social that doesn’t involve alcohol or junk food. If I could learn any more, I will.
3) Netflix and Press-ups
Once again blending fitness and TV, this time I’m planning to watch a season of something on my phone, and do press-ups throughout. I’ll have to wait for something to pique my interest.
4) The Machinist Diet
In 2004 Christian Bale starred as Trevor Reznick in The Machinist, a twisty crime drama about a factory worker with insomnia and apparent anorexia. I saw it years ago and enjoyed it, but didn’t understand it. I meant to revisit it. Hmm. It’d be good to figure it out after all these years. I saw it in maybe ‘06. In preparation for the film Bale went on an extreme diet that is thoroughly ill-advised. I’d try it anyway, to hit a target weight, but not to be as skeletal as he was. I just want to get back into my 30” suit trousers AGAIN. I expect the newly-bought (second hand) DVD extras would tell us all about how he achieved the physique. It’d probably explain the film, too.
So yeah, just the 4 this year.
